The 23rd Joint Annual Conference of the SCI Chinese UK Group and the Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology in the UK (CSCST-UK), was held at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, on 3 September 2016. The conference was supported by SCI, the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in London, and the University of Nottingham. The Local Conference Organising Committee at the University of Nottingham (chaired by Dr Xia Li) organised this year’s conference with SCI and CSCST-UK.
The theme of the conference was ‘Emerging Opportunities and Challenges in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering’. Chemistry and chemical engineering were central to the evolutional change of our living standards in the 20th century, via a wide range of achievements including the Haber-Bosch process, antibiotics and vaccines, semiconductors, etc. Today, for the sustainable development of our living standards, chemical science and engineering are rapidly expanding with applications in a multitude of fields, including climate change, environmental systems, energy security, biomedical, new materials, and complex systems.
This year’s conference focused on the most up-to-date and emergent research opportunities and challenges. It brought together chemists, chemical engineers, and biochemists working in the areas of smart materials, energy and sustainability, advanced processing technologies, printed electronics, biotechnology, computational chemistry, and engineering. About 130 researchers registered for the conference, including researchers from the Republic of Ireland and mainland China.
Dr Jiawei Wang, President of CSCST, gave a talk on the CSCST-UK, and the Minister Counsellor for Education at the Chinese Embassy in London, Mr Yongli Wang, gave the talk on the International Cooperation and Exchange between UK and China. Dr Weiping Wu introduced the latest activities and background of SCI, including the ways in which SCI has been supporting the CSCST-UK.
The first plenary lecture was given by Prof Yulong Ding, University of Birmingham, and was entitled ‘The thermal energy storage using composite phase change materials: from molecular modelling based formulation to innovative manufacture’. Following that, Prof Edward Lester, University of Nottingham, shared his experience on the commercialisation of turning technology into a business. Prof George Chen, University of Nottingham, (and first president of CSCST-UK) presented a talk on ‘The Molten salts assisted capture, conversion and utilisation of carbon dioxide’. These plenary lectures discussed various aspects of the latest in chemistry and advanced chemical engineering, and their impacts on the society and economics. On the behalf of SCI-Chinese UK Group, Dr Cigang Xu explained the referee panel for the Best Presentation Awards to the PhD students who presented their research work during the conference.
28 oral presentations were delivered in two separate lecture rooms. There were two sessions in the morning, Session 1A Smart Technology (chaired by Dr Yongliang Li, University of Birmingham), and Session 1B Computational Chemistry and Engineering (chaired by Dr Ming Li, University of Nottingham). Sessions were also held in the afternoon: Session 2A Catalysis and Sustainability (chaired by Dr Chenyu Du, University of Huddersfield), and Session 2B Advanced Molecule Materials (chaired by Dr Xianghui Hou,University of Nottingham). Poster sessions were hold during coffee breaks and inspired a lot of discussions, new ideas and networking.
In the concluding session, the awards for best Oral Presentation and Posters were announced based on the recommendation by the referee panels. The prize winners are listed below:
The Best Oral Presentation
- First Prize: Nannan Wang (University of Exeter) - inorganic fullerene tungsten sulphide nanoparticle reinforced poly(ether ether ketone) IF-WS2/PEEK nanocomposites
- Second Prize: Linhao Li (University of Sheffield) - fast oxygen ion conduction in Bi4Ti3O12
- Third Prize: Dr Kaipei Qiu (UCL) - Kaipei Qiu from University College London won the third prize for his presentation on P,N Co-doped metal-free catalysts for bifunctional oxygen reduction and evolution
Best Poster Presentations
- First Prize: Dr. Zhaoliang Zheng (University of Liverpool) - CNT-Reinforced GO shell for stable encapsulation in the heat generating applications
- Second Prize: Xin Liu (University of Nottingham) - novel rice husk derived bio-carbons with record high capacity for CO2 capture
- Third Prize: Ms Fenghua Zhang (University of Cambridge) - self-healing core/shell composite fibre films with co-electrospinning method
Finally, Dr Cigang Xu talked about the activities of SC -Chinese UK Group and how to join SCI.
Dr Weiping Wu
Chair, SCI Chinese UK Group
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